Lucy Barbara Ethel Faulkner, Baroness Faulkner of Downpatrick,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(née Forsythe; 1 July 1925 – 20 January 2012) was a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, unionist and peace advocate. Faulkner was the wife of the sixth and last

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as with governors- ...

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the chief executive ...

, who was in office from 1971 to 1972. She was also the first woman to hold a seat as a National Governor of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

from Northern Ireland from 1978 to 1985. As a BBC Governor, Faulkner oversaw the formation of the Northern Ireland Broadcasting Council and the launch of

Radio Foyle BBC Radio Foyle ( ga, BBC Raidió Feabhail) is a BBC Northern Ireland local radio station, serving County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is named after the River Foyle which flows through Derry, the city where the station is based. The s ...

. She further became the

chairwoman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the BBC in 1981. She attended

Glenlola Collegiate School Glenlola Collegiate School is an all-girls' grammar school in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. The school was founded as a school for girls in approximately 1880. In 2018 the Education and Training Electorate evaluated the school as "Good ...

in Bangor before enrolling in

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where she studied

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. Forsythe worked as a

, joining the staff of for ''

The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant pop ...

'' in 1947. In 1949, she left the newspaper and became the personal

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

to then Northern Irish Prime Minister, Sir Basil Brooke, at

Stormont House Stormont House (also called Speaker's House) is the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office, situated in the Stormont Estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was designed by Ralph Knott, although Sir Edwin Lutyens has been credited with som ...

. Forsythe married her husband, Brian Faulkner, in 1951 (Faulkner was serving as the youngest MP in the history of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

at the time). The couple had first met due to their shared interests in both

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. After their marriage, the Faulkners resided in Highlands, which is located near the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Seaforde Seaforde is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Naghan,County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. The couple had three children: David, Claire and Michael. Brian Faulkner, was created Lord Faulkner of Downpatrick and introduced to the House of Lords on 22 February 1977. However, he was killed in a hunting accident just days later on 3 March 1977, following a stag hunt. The horse slipped and he was thrown onto the road and died instantly. Lady Faulkner was at his side in minutes having been following the hunt by car. In 1985, Lady Faulkner was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). Two years later, in the aftermath of the

Remembrance Day bombing The Remembrance Day bombing (also known as the Enniskillen bombing or Poppy Day massacre) took place on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. A Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb exploded near County Ferm ...

by the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, Faulkner implored the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Unionists to consider a power sharing agreement and "put the clock back" and further appealed to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Nationalists to cooperate with Northern Irish security forces. Additionally, Lady Faulkner worked as a researcher and trustee for the Ulster Historical Foundation. Lady Faulkner died at her home on 20 January 2012 at the age of 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, Lucy 1925 births 2012 deaths BBC Governors 20th-century journalists from Northern Ireland Faulkner of Downpatrick Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Writers from County Down Spouses of life peers People educated at Glenlola Collegiate School Women journalists from Northern Ireland Belfast Telegraph people